Hobbies and Talents... or just ways to waste time.

H got invited to a last minute birthday party last Friday - and although I wasn't thrilled about running and trying to find an appropriate gift at the last possible second, I did want her to go since it was at the gymnastics studio I keep considering for the girls.  First they played "chicken" on a balance board - H rocked at this game - you go girl!

H jumped right into the fun, M kept back for awhile, testing the bouncy floor and such - but they allowed us to stay in the gym and observe while the party was happening... it wasn't long before M was jumping into the foam pit (repeatedly) and needing help to get out.  She's convinced that gymnastics is a lot of fun - I'll worry about letting her in on the discipline side if Q ever comes around.

T & W like to fill their spare time - when I don't allow video games - with anything that will also fill their tummies.  On this occasion they decided to bake a cake, and I caught them before they could remove the pink aprons (but the pink baker's hats were ditched faster) ... hmmm, should have cropped out that cluttered counter before putting the picture up 'eh?

As anyone familiar with the Po-boy knows, his favorite hobby is eating - and complaining about food... he did both as soon as the cake was done.

Myself - I decided that it was time to use some of the many scrapbook supplies that I have been "collecting" and I have successfully caught up to last years' back to school pages!  This is pathetic I know - but it is a step in the right direction.  Maybe when the kids go back to school I'll be getting closer to caught up...  yeah, right :)

A lot of hype... ?

We decided that for FHE we would enjoy the newest pool in the area - it looks fun doesn't it?  Because we are inherently cheap, err... "frugal" - we waited for the $2 off discount entry that occurs after 7:00.  I was still annoyed about paying the Non-Resident price since that particular town in a stone's throw from our back porch (literally).  The pool has been much discussed around town and everyone seems to love it.  Myself - well, I think the lifeguards are a little whistle happy... Really guys - the kids are RIGHT in front of you and aren't in danger, they just need to move out of the slide splash down area and frankly - they keep ignoring your whistle, they have no idea that it's being blown for their benefit and hey, you're going to have to talk to them anyway, so just talk and let the other 7 whistles per minute be responsible for my earache.  I was quite grateful for the fact that all of my children are now potty-trained - even if that did mean running M into the ladies room - this 3 layers of protection thing seems a little over the top.  Speaking of our run to the ladies' locker room... I'm all for modesty in locker rooms and all that, but there is a downside.  Being that every shower stall and changing stall has the exact same door on it as the toilet stalls - it took a few minutes and some quick thinking to get to the stall that had the necessary equipment for our needs.  I felt a little foolish pushing open so many doors (none of which had people behind them thank goodness).   The splash features were an awful lot of fun for the little ones - even though the amount of water that poured down on us at one point was quite surprising - and kept them entertained for the entire hour and a half.  The older ones had less to do than at other pools - but seemed to enjoy themselves nonetheless - the slide was a little claustrophobic I hear (not my thing).  I'm sure we'll go back on occasion, but as for getting a years' pass... not gonna happen!

All the other things we did...

Okay - it was a little bit of a crazy week - so you just get a general re-cap (because otherwise I'd never get around to all these TAGs flying around)

Last Sunday I had a weird moment at church - this lady sat behind our family and I spent the whole meeting (at least when I wasn't wholly focussed on testimonies) wondering where on earth I knew her from...  3 hours and some later when at home I got a phone call that put that question to rest - she's a master of the scrapbook and a personal guru (Lisa Bearnson) and I felt a little silly that I didn't recognize her - though maybe that was good because I would have felt even more silly introducing myself to her and asking her to autograph my CTR 7 manual :).  I did however go and visit her blog and apologize for my children who I'm sure kept her from paying much attention to the meeting - her response was very gracious and restored my faith in humanity (or at least my faith that my children will someday be human)

Monday was a lot of fun - well, parts of it were.  I attended my first PTA meeting for the new school year (too early!), this one was for the Intermediate School and actually turned out to be an enjoyable meeting, despite the fact that it took way too long.  I think I will like the new principal and W will do well at the school - I suggested a new fund-raiser that we are going to be doing... I won't give it all away but it involves over a thousand rubber duckies :)  

That night for Family Night we had a pie-eating contest... the .58 variety at WalMart worked for most of the family, but there are a few that stuck with moon pies even though they took longer to eat (all that marshmallowey goodness)!

Tuesday we mostly stayed home during the day - M was of course only interested in playing with her friends and I enjoyed watching them writing their names, their siblings' names, and then arguing about their parents' names... "hey, M O M spells MY mom!"
Tuesday night was also pack meeting, new scouts, boy scouts, and EQ meeting - so while Q dealt with the oldest two and their transportation needs - I packed up the younger ones and their swim gear and headed back to the water park where I got nicely crisp earlier in the summer.  Luckily we spent less than two hours and were home in time for... whatever it was the kids were watching while I zoned.

Wednesday was a Luncheon for the Treehouse Museum Committee - it was encouraging and stressful at the same time... after Monday's Pie Eating contest I was TRYING to eat only healthful foods - luckily someone had supplied a fruit plate while I single-handedly demolished :)  After that meeting was over (and a quick library visit) I read my night away.  Oh - which brings me to mention something from Tuesday...  I had received a few e-mails regarding my book review and I was talked into a whole new blog experience - so check it out if you want, the link is on the side bar somewhere.  I'm open to guest reviews if anyone has anything!!

Thursday was all about insurance - well, at least the first few hours were - a home health nurse came by to give Q and I quick once overs for our new life insurance... and hopefully we'd been good enough to our bodies that we won't be turned down!

Friday - that began the camping...
getting everything ready wasn't too terrible, H wasn't too keen on going, but she was a trooper about it and we got there and set up with nary a worry... Just as we were thinking about starting a fire to cook up the tin-foil dinners we notice a cloud moving in...  Po predicted we had 40 minutes, and he was pretty close after all, but we ate ham and cheese sandwiches in the safety of the tent.  The brand new tent mind you that hadn't been rain tested yet and had a few seam issues...  so while it wasn't disastrous, I would beg of you to please use seam sealant PRIOR to putting 7 people in a tent for the night!

Saturday we woke up and did a little fishing... although I think the fish would have called it Fish Observing...  they were there, they were swimming right in front of us, but they had no interest in rubber caterpillars, fake grasshoppers, or even the many real dragonflies that were sacrificed to the cause.  We then did a little hiking (very little) and headed for home - despite the protests of M, who wanted to keep going.

Once we were home Q found out that he was going to have to take over and speak in 2 wards on Sunday...  Being the supportive wife that I am I said that once we got the kids all bathed I would help him write the talk... and promptly fell asleep.  I don't even remember H getting done with her shower...  maybe I helped most by staying out of the way because Q did a great job.

Sunday - Okay, church is only 3 hours right... sometimes it feels like 6.  I answered an amazing number of silly questions from 6 and 7 year olds - and somewhere in there I'm sure someone learned something.  I learned that constant entertainment while desirable to the average child is virtually impossible.  I also learned that my children DO have the capacity to sit still for more than 3 minutes if their father is speaking from the pulpit!

Today... well folks, I'm still wearing my Tinkerbell pajamas and I'm on laundry load #4 - making sure that tonight's swimming adventures will go off without a hitch - and updating all of this blog stuff... isn't that enough - remember that constant entertainment is not really possible!

Sunscreen is your friend...

Well folks, I finally learned my lesson (at least for this summer) and used ample sunscreen, and aside from Q - I think we all came home unscathed - we spent the day on the reservoir with the sea-doos (not related to scooby or scrappy) and fully enjoyed the event.  You may recognize Dave here - we selfishly invited along our neighbors because it is much more fun with more adults to keep an eye on kids while playing in the water.  Some enjoyed feeding the winged scavengers on the beach...
Some (myself included) enjoyed the speed and power of the machines... 
Some enjoyed the water-fights (did we need to get wetter?)
and some just enjoyed the many snacks that were consumed on shore!  All in all it was a fun day that made me once again regret that it got too cold last October for a family event of equally wet proportions.  Maybe next time J .  

Now I just need to catch up on laundry tomorrow and I will feel like it was a fun week!

Jumpin' for Joy

Ever since the new business "Jumpin' Jacks" opened near our house a few months back we have been putting the kids off...  apparently many friends have raved about it (only one said it was a bust) and in this past week both H and T went with friends and returned with good reviews.  P has had a free pass since April that he's been dying to use and I picked up a $2 off coupon in early May thinking that I certainly didn't want to pay $8 per child... (yikes - for that I want a roller coaster!)  

Anyway - we finally broke down and decided that it would be an acceptable family home evening event for us...

M had the most fun (well, maybe) and was all smiles - all night, as long as you don't count the time that Dad's helping hands actually made her fall and be trapped between the blow up castle and the inflatable wall of the bouncy toy - or the time when Haven was riding the inflatable dragon that she was attempting to slay with her karate kicks and the dragon fought back... all in all, two teary moments in two hours was pretty good for her.

H, having been before, was ready for fun and took off like a shot - she sustained a few slide burns but doesn't seem to care much - it was almost impossible to keep up with her, we saw her now and then when she was eager to show M something cool.

 

P & W were not disappointed as the place lived up to their expectations - P took one break to play in the little kid area - where his vehicle became an instant chick magnet once he sat down... ooh, an older man...

P, W & T spent a good portion of the night racing in and out of the T-rex guarded obstacle course seeing who could get through their side fastest...  and when Q wasn't busy catching up on his reading....  he was timing them.  They also seemed to come up with creative ways to use the inflatables that weren't intended... 

like laying on the floppy side and launching each other back into the ride...  

To be honest, this is not what he was reading... but it was just sitting there by him and it seemed funnier than the Sports section - I didn't let him see the cover before snapping the picture.

All in all, it was a good family night - especially after returning home with very tired kids, they barely finished M's carefully selected ice cream treats before the youngest 3 fell into bed!  Was that worth $24???  Hmmm... maybe once a year, but we're not buying a summer pass or anything!

RHINO RIDING

I thought that I would give H at least a moments pause when I told her that we were going out to the sand dunes to ride a rhino...  somehow my street wise daughter knew immediately that I was referring to a vehicle and not a wild rampaging beast.  Whether this is a reflection on her being over-exposed to extreme sports or under-exposed to wildlife education has yet to be determined.

The one we rented was actually a 6 seater (or 7 if you squish two girls together in the back seat) - and actually was not a "rhino" - it was a ranger, but since it was the same idea and "rhino riding" was a more attention grabbing blog itle, that's what we're calling it.

The first fun of the day was actually before we left home - W climbed up into the driver's seat and began reading the warning label out loud (missing the big NEVER at the beginning) "Use alcohol or drugs before or during operation of this vehicle...  allow children under 5 to ride... allow more than 5 passengers...  Go faster than the conditions or your skill permits...  Go up hills steeper than 15 degrees...  Operate this vehicle if you are under the age of 16"  He was confused for a few seconds while he considered a pre-teen drunken idiot careening out of control up the side of a pyramid with a load of toddlers.

The next big fun moment was about 15 minutes into the ride when we had amazing made it up to the top of a small rise only to realize that the down side was steeper than we would probably enjoy, and the sand was just soft enough there that the wheel sank in quite quickly when we tried to reverse.  After a few minutes of attempting to dig out the vehicle we were wishing that we had tossed in the shovel and pail that had come free with purchase of Jell-O - or maybe the preschool carpet squares because we were going nowhere fast.  To our extreme relief, up the hill come a crowd of rough looking biker types who were probably amused at our plight and our misguided efforts.  The trick you see (if you ever find yourself in this situation you will be glad you read this) is to rock the vehicle slightly and encourage more sand to go under the tires - in less than 4 minutes we were free to continue driving around - which we did for a little while before stopping for lunch.

Lunch - our location was where "sandwiches" got their name - and we had to constantly remind Po that running around and playing upwind of the cooler was causing a bit of a problem for the rest of us - both girls ended up tossing their jell-O in the garbage because of its high grit content.

Driving lessons finished out the day as Q decided to allow each of the children a chance behind the wheel... (how many "never" rules have we broken now)  They all did quite well - especially those who couldn't touch the gas pedal.  Speaking of the gas pedal - I did my turn at driving and can I just mention that "pedal to the metal" has no bite behind it when your legs are short and the seats are not adjustable!  

We then returned the beastie to its proper owners, and since the kids had all read enough to earn an ice cream cone we went to Arctic Circle for dinner - where we insisted they finish consuming their deep fried starches and processed fats before being rewarded with their dairy related sugars.  Being the health conscious individual I am I opted to wait and eat a salad at home, but did my fair share of helping polish off the fries to the degree that I didn't need a salad at home anymore.

And that folks, was our Saturday in a nutshell - as long as you don't want to hear about the service project that was somehow avoided due to a missed phone call... 

Six hours at the park

Note:  that is NOT my back...

Mine doesn't look that bad, but it feels that bad, actually - it's the back of my knees which are currently unbent and sticking out to the side of the computer armoire so that they won't be pained!  Why is it that I cannot remember that the first time I spend an extended day at the park that SPF 50 is not too much.  The kids all had it on and only Porter looks reddish.  I broke down and put some on after the first hour and a half... alas, that was too late! 

Sunburn aside, it was fun - we had friends coming and going from the park the entire day - the water features were all on and there was a cooler full of good food (and junk food) to keep the kids happy.  Speaking of junk food - I picked up some interesting flavors of pringles - Cheeseburger, Mac 'n Cheese, and Pizza...  I was only willing to take a portion of a chip per flavor - and though one of Trevor's friends claimed to be able to taste the pickle in the cheeseburger I just tasted the cheese and mustard.  Mac 'n Cheese was just a cheddar chip and Pizza... well, I had one a few years ago and it didn't bear revisiting... I happily munched my fat free original flavored pringles and read my book (thus the back of the knee problem!)

All in all the kids happily entertained themselves for hours with just the water features, a few butterfly nets, and food - we're going to do this more often... for about half that time and double the sunscreen!

Our Weekend at the Cabin

well, even though nobody wanted to hang out with us we had a fine time at the family cabin...  the only rodent to be found had been LONG dead (probably years dead) - so if anyone notices that cute little magazine rack is now sideways upstairs...  there's a reason for that, it was a veritable death trap for any mousies who lacked a ladder.

the sledding was spectacular -  you wouldn't guess that the hill directly below the cabin becomes an awesome sledding spot when covered with sufficient powder...  we actually were trying to sled on the hill directly left of the cabin but then W. lost his snowboard and it went down... and down... and down - so he had to go after it!  A good thing that Q. was willing to retrieve us all on the sleds attached to the snowmobile because after the first walk back up dragging M. on the sled I was not excited about a second run!

The cabin stays nice and warm in the winter once a fire gets going - next year some more of y'all will have to join in the fun - even if nobody is up for a crazy overnight!  We will have to get up there as soon as it is vehicle accessible and replenish the water supplies as well as drop off some more simple kitchen items that are sadly lacking - however we found that it is possible to substitute a few plastic forks for a spatula in a pinch!